Gerry C - Emergency Planning Officer

00:00:03 I’m Gerry C, and I'm an Emergency Planning Officer for the London Borough of Lewisham. An Emergency Planning Officer’s role is a wide and varied one, and the wonderful thing is as well is that the risks, the threats, the hazards that are faced by an organisation, are dynamic, they’re always evolving. I mean at certain times of the year, flooding’s going to be a much higher priority, whereas in the winter months, things like pandemic flu are much, much higher risk. I really, really like the challenge. I like the fact that it’s an ever-changing role, and I do like the fact that there aren’t two days that are the same.

00:00:48 Oh as I was going through school I certainly – I had a real focus, and I worked towards it as well. I wanted to be a lawyer. And I’d been lucky enough to spend some time – a little bit of work experience if you will – as a little temp – a temporary arrangement working for a solicitors’ office. And I think the reality didn’t quite match the dream, shall we say. It was a complete culture shock to me. There was a system shock first, just having this pre-conceived notion of what I wanted to do, I wanted to be a lawyer, I want to help people, I want to be able to interact and engage with people. But then realising that the real dedication is to the books. You will only be spending about ten percent of your time dealing with clients. I guess that wasn't enough job satisfaction being offered for me. And I really wasn't prepared for that.

00:01:48 Well in my career I wouldn’t have said anything has held me back, other than perhaps choices that I may have made. As I said beforehand, the real focus for my life and educational studies, was Law. Learning to overcome these set methods that had been ingrained for a number of years, and learning to be much more open-minded - that was a challenge, at first. Didn’t hold me back. I guess it fuelled me further. Studying Law has taught me a lot of things. But becoming an Emergency Planning Officer has helped me grow a lot more, I guess. And it certainly – certainly pushed me forward, and it’s made me a lot more proactive as well.

00:02:39 Well now that I know about it, I think if I could do anything at all I’d be an Emergency Planning Officer. Whilst you realise how much danger and threat that we face on a day to day basis, it also makes you realise how well people cope in the face of massive adversity. I mean, getting to meet people at 3 o’clock in the morning, when they’ve been evacuated from their house – that's not the best starting terms to – to be reaching. They’re scared, they’re tired, they’re confused, they’re disoriented, but still the whole idea, the whole community, the whole human spirit, it always wins out. It’s a beautiful thing to see. You could have rival factions, you could have different political – different religious beliefs – in the time of emergency, it doesn’t matter, because people come together. And it’s an incredible feeling, and it’s not something that I'm sure you’d be able to see in many other walks of life, it’s a pretty unique feature of our job.

00:03:47 ENDS

Gerry C

Gerry C
I’m Gerry C, and I'm an Emergency Planning Officer for the London Borough of Lewisham. An Emergency Planning Officer’s role is a wide and varied one, and the wonderful thing is as well is that the risks, the threats, the hazards that are faced by an organisation, are dynamic, they’re always evolving. I mean at certain times of the year, flooding’s going to be a much higher priority, whereas in the winter months, things like pandemic flu are much, much higher risk. I really, really like the challenge. I like the fact that it’s an ever-changing role, and I do like the fact that there aren’t two days that are the same.
Oh as I was going through school I certainly – I had a real focus, and I worked towards it as well. I wanted to be a lawyer. And I’d been lucky enough to spend some time – a little bit of work experience if you will – as a little temp – a temporary arrangement working for a solicitors’ office. And I think the reality didn’t quite match the dream, shall we say. It was a complete culture shock to me. There was a system shock first, just having this pre-conceived notion of what I wanted to do, I wanted to be a lawyer, I want to help people, I want to be able to interact and engage with people. But then realising that the real dedication is to the books. You will only be spending about ten percent of your time dealing with clients. I guess that wasn't enough job satisfaction being offered for me. And I really wasn't prepared for that.
Well in my career I wouldn’t have said anything has held me back, other than perhaps choices that I may have made. As I said beforehand, the real focus for my life and educational studies, was Law. Learning to overcome these set methods that had been ingrained for a number of years, and learning to be much more open-minded - that was a challenge, at first. Didn’t hold me back. I guess it fuelled me further. Studying Law has taught me a lot of things. But becoming an Emergency Planning Officer has helped me grow a lot more, I guess. And it certainly – certainly pushed me forward, and it’s made me a lot more proactive as well.
Well now that I know about it, I think if I could do anything at all I’d be an Emergency Planning Officer. Whilst you realise how much danger and threat that we face on a day to day basis, it also makes you realise how well people cope in the face of massive adversity. I mean, getting to meet people at 3 o’clock in the morning, when they’ve been evacuated from their house – that's not the best starting terms to – to be reaching. They’re scared, they’re tired, they’re confused, they’re disoriented, but still the whole idea, the whole community, the whole human spirit, it always wins out. It’s a beautiful thing to see. You could have rival factions, you could have different political – different religious beliefs – in the time of emergency, it doesn’t matter, because people come together. And it’s an incredible feeling, and it’s not something that I'm sure you’d be able to see in many other walks of life, it’s a pretty unique feature of our job.
ENDS

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About Gerry C

Age at filming: 26-35,
Employer's name: Lewisham County Council
Gerry C is Emergency Planning Officer for the London Borough of Lewisham. He has to make and implement plans for things like floods, flu epidemics and blizzards. He thought he wanted to be a lawyer, but work experience made him change his mind. He felt he needed a job which engages with people. He enjoys his work and says "becoming an Emergency Planning Officer has helped me grow".

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Managers and directors in this unit group plan, organise, direct and co-ordinate the resources and activities of health care providers and purchasers at both district and unit levels.

Qualifications

Entrants require a degree or equivalent qualification, a professional qualification and/or relevant experience. Off- and on-the-job training is provided through management training schemes. The nature of schemes varies between regions and occupational areas.

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Implements policies of the board, ensures statutory procedures are followed, with particular emphasis on patient safety and the management of risk

Liaises with health care professionals to determine short and long-term needs and how to meet these objectives within budgetary constraints

Oversees the day-to-day management of the unit or service and provides leadership to staff

Uses statistical information to monitor performance and assist with planning

Negotiates and manages contracts with providers and purchasers of health care services

Manages staff, including recruitment, appraisal and development

Monitors and reports upon the effectiveness of services with a view to improving the efficiency of health care provision

Coordinates the promotion of public health and wellbeing in the actions and policies of public agencies and their social partners